Ishara Cull
Ishara Cull is a trueborn daughter of a lesser Archon within the Black Heart Kabal. She chose life as a scourge, shifted her alliances between factions to suit her own ends before ultimately ending up as the leader of the Kabalite Sirens, a small band of huntresses exiled from their former Kabals. History Ishara is the eldest daughter of a lesser Archon of the Black Heart Kabal, the leader of the Shard of the Haunted Twilight, though discovered quickly her inheritance would be denied. As she grew, her father spared no expense in keeping her contained to his spire for some scheme she cared not to follow. It wasn't long before she managed to escape and submit herself to a fleshcrafter in the outer ports of Commorragh and sank into the intrigues of Kabalite espionage. The delicious conspiracies and plots she wove in and out of filled her with glee, self-directed raids on other kabalite shipments and territories let her indulge her desires for violence and plunder. She eventually returned to her father to claim a place in the court, though even her secrets acquired from years in the spires did little to earn her the desired prestige. Even when realspace raids were organized she was denied her place as a warrior within the fleet. When archons from other kabals went in search of Scourge mercenaries, they somehow knew to avoid her. A chance for power came during her period as a court advisor when a ship came through the webway, an imperial vessel offering slaves in exchange for protection beyond the frontier. Ishara was quick to step in and offer herself as the guardian for the client, a Rogue Trader by the name Reynolds. While the irony of a Drukhari bodyguard was not lost on him or his crew, none could question the use of her knowledge and skill in battle when raiding hive fleet controlled space hulks or lost craftworlds. The team ended up rediscovering numerous worlds, restoring the Imperium's reach as much as they could while fighting off Orks, Tyranids, Beastfolk, Mutants, other Drukhari, Renegades, Chaos Marines and even Slaaneshi daemons. Whispers spread quickly of Ishara Cull growing weak and invalid during her time in realspace. While the exact details are known only to her, she appears to have grown fond of a small number of humans. Death Jesters told tales of her adopting customs of a Harlequin Troupe, sharing beliefs and even crafting her own fetishes of Cegorath to worship. After several years she returned to the Dark City with her reputation somewhat damaged by her life in realspace, a pariah even among her own kabalites and scourges for her relations with humans, assistance with their endeavors, familiarity with Harlequins and only a small cluster of slave worlds gained in response. Shortly after her return, Ishara Cull was invited to the wake of Vect more our of obligation that appreciation for role in the kabal. When the great masterstroke of Vect was cast and the Archons slaughtered, Ishara was conspicuously absent with several other warriors. It wasn't long before Vect accused her of having somehow moved against him, his megalomania leading him to believe she was a conspirator who predicted his plan through some unknown means and ordered the deaths of her and her company of absent warriors. Forced into exile, Ishara Cull fled into realspace with the small group of other exiles and formed the Kabalite Sirens. Since then they have operated as a kill team of mercenaries for rogue traders, imperial governors, Ethereals, even haemonculi and archons who managed to contact them outside of the Commorragh. Their last known whereabouts were in the underhives of Necromunda's palatine cluster, Ishara's knowledge of humans and espionage letting them pass as mere mutants in the shanty towns. She has since assumed the name Diana Gein Escher to blend better into the human cultures. After centuries leading her mercenary band, betrayal by Tau clients resulted in her and her team being dragged back to Commorragh in chains. Luckily she managed to escape into the outer ports of the Dark City and folded into a young Kabal known as the Unyielding Horror. Esoteric Encounters *A hellion gang war erupted near Ishara's spire. She decided to swoop in and steal a jetboard from one of the hellions, then proceeded to mock him for losing his property. Weeks later she finally decided to kill him and dine on his corpse with the rest of his gang. *When first arriving in realspace, Ishara Cull was escorted to a hive world under Reynolds' rule. When assaulted by Iron Warriors, Reynolds told the people to flee to his ships, one of which opened the ramp to reveal the winged reaver with her splinter rifle in hand. The population was terrified, unable to chose between entering the ship and facing the Iron Warriors, and ended up being slaughtered while stunned in their indecision. Ishara herself was laughing too hard to engage the attackers before Reynolds prepared the ship for takeoff. *While in the service of Lord Reynolds, Ishara Cull took an interest in the primitive technology of the ship and joined the ship's Tech-Priest Explorator (A secret heretek) in matters of engineering. *Ishara Cull once led a boarding action against a pirate band of beastmen and mutants. The exchange was short-lived, and provided a plentiful feast for her while she had been starved up to that point. *Upon discovery of a Craftworld overrun with Tyranids, Ishara assisted in the rescue of several players from the Troupe of the Veiled Path. She allegedly took up their practices and even became a rememberancer of song. *After leading the Kabalite Sirens, a short gang war erupted in the underhive of Hive Mortis with the Carrion Queens for their supply of narcotics. Dubious Claims These are claims that have spread around the Dark City, made by Ishara herself with little in the way of evidence. *Ishara has claimed numerous times to share genetic kinship with Asdrubael Vect. While the trueborn daughter of another Archon, rumors have circulated that the genetic material of her half-born parents was supplied by Vect himself. *Once while traveling through the warp with Reynolds, the gellar field dropped and Slaaneshi daemons stormed the craft. Rage and spite compelled her to butcher her way through them and ended with her trading snide remarks with a greater daemonette of some kind before escaping the warp. *The Veiled Path harlequins were lost beyond salvation within a doomed Craftworld overrun with Tyranids and were almost singlehandedly rescued by Ishara Cull. Lord Reynolds and the Explorator helped as well, though she insists she did the bulk of the work. *While working with the Veiled Path, and despite her the dulled psychic ability of the Drukhari, she spoke with Cegorach or an aspect of Cegorach. *Ishara once did enough combat stims that she defeated three Iron Hands marines in melee combat. *Once during a second gellar field failure, Ishara sang a song so well with a voice so beautiful that it brought a daemonette to tears. That provided her the opening she needed to find a weapon and slay the monster. *Following the Craftworld raid, Lord Reynolds was seriously injured and lost a leg. Ishara Cull happened to use medical equipment on site to treat him, though paid no mind the biological differences between them. Her medical skill however left Reynolds alive, his leg regenerated, and with only minor mutations that were cured with months of subsequent cosmetic surgery. Profane Controversies A certain level of decorum is expected among the trueborn of Commorragh, and Ishara Cull has gained much notoriety for her actions across the galaxy. *Of Ishara's many controversies, he affinity for human pets has risen to the top of the list. *Notoriously, she had laid with many humans. *While assisting the Veiled Path on the doomed Craftworld, some sense of kinship with her Asuryani cousins compelled her to find and preserve every soul stone she possibly could to prevent them from being destroyed by the hive fleet. The soulstones were handed over to the Veiled Path to be taken to new resting places. *Lord Reynolds and Ishara Cull had an agreement for slaves in exchange for her service, though many in the Dark City claim her service was not repaid in kind with only a few million slaves being offered up each month. *Worships Khaine and Cegorach in equal measure. Rumor says she once even attempted to undo corruption sustained out in realspace through harlequin practices. *Has shown a level of honesty and loyalty to both her other sirens and clients. *She has chosen to accept life as an exile with the Kabalite Sirens in realspace instead of attempting to earn a place back in the Dark City. Category:Dark Eldar Characters Category:Dark Eldar